Disclaimer: Teen Titans is the Property of DC Comics

Chapter 20

The adults had never seen Crystal eat so fast before without a single complaint. Even Taye and Nicole watched her oddly and couldn't help ignoring their own plates of food. After nearly choking twice she was done and ran back towards her room where she expected to be rewarded with her big present her father had promised her.

She skipped down the hall, happily humming to herself as her mind raced with theories on what her present could be. She turned the corner and a few yards ahead of her she saw Raven on the floor. She stopped her skipping and humming immediately and tried to figure out what it was she was seeing.

"Mommy-Raven?" she said. She waited for Raven to acknowledge her, but nothing came. She simply lay still on the floor. Slowly and cautiously Crystal made her way to Raven, her little heart racing with fear and confusion. "M-Mommy-Raven?"

She reached the woman on the floor, who had still not moved, and studied her for a moment. She appeared to be only sleeping. Crystal got down on her knees and began to shake Raven, in an attempt to wake her up. But it wasn't working. Scared and fearful that she was dead, Crystal screamed at the top of her lungs, "Daddy! Help!"

Within seconds Beast Boy had exploded from his room and looking around for where he'd heard his daughter's distress call. He looked down the hall and only a few feet in front of him kneeled Crystal over Ravens unconscious body. His stomach dropped and he ran over to the two.

"Crystal, what happened?" he asked.

"I-I don't know," said the little girl on the verge of tears. "I found her on the floor and she won't wake up. I-Is she dead?"

Before he could actually answer her, he had to check Ravens vitals. He placed his ear next to her lips and felt a soft breath. She was breathing, she was still alive. "No, she's not dead, sweetheart. She's just fainted, that's all. Go get the adults for me, okay?"

"O-Okay," she said, jumped to her feet, and bolted down the hall. It was the first time her father didn't yell after her not to run. And that only scared her more.

Beast Boy began softly slapping each of Ravens cheeks, trying to bring her back. "Raven?" he said. "Raven, can you hear me? Come on, Rae, you gotta come back to me." Just when he believed she wasn't coming back she suddenly began to fidget and moaned. He quickly felt relieved and held her cheek in his hand. "Raven, can you hear me?"

She groaned again and attempted to open her eyes. Slowly they fluttered open and she dizzily looked around. She felt very confused, as she often did after she'd fainted, and couldn't help wanting to cry from confusion and embarrassment.

"Hey, it's okay," said Beast Boy comfortingly as he watched tears form in Ravens eyes. "You're gonna be fine. Do you know where you are right now?"

"No," she said, closing her eyes and shaking her head. Her tears coursed down the side of her face, tickling and pooling in her ears.

"Yes you do," he said, wiping her tears away. "Take in a deep breath. Come on, I'll do it with you." He inhaled deeply and prompted her to do the same. After a few tries she did manage to breath with him and soon she looked a bit less hysterical. "Okay, do you know where you are?"

"The tower?" she said as more of a question than an answer.

"Good girl," he said, holding her hand. He lifted it to his lips and kissed it gently, soothingly caressing her cheek with his other hand.

Suddenly Crystal came running back down the hall with the rest of the adults behind her. Raven was quickly picked up and brought to the med bay so they could make sure she was okay. Beast Boy decided to let the others take care of checking her vitals so that he could calm and comfort Crystal, who was still very upset.

They were in Ravens room, and Crystal's for the time being, sitting on her bed. She sat in his lap and he held her close to make her feel safe and comfortable. It was very rare that Crystal ever got this shaken up about anything, so this truly concerned him.

"Is she gonna be okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, she'll be fine," he said, kissing her head.

"Why'd she faint?" she asked.

He sighed and said, "Because she's sick."

"She's sick?" she asked. "What does she have? Is it a cold?"

"No, it's a little more serious than a cold," he said, sadness dripping from his words. "But we're doing everything we can to make her better, don't you worry."

Crystal sighed and said, "I'm supposed to read her a story tonight all on my own."

"You are?" he said.

"Yeah," she nodded. "She said that I could play on her bed if I'd read her a story tonight."

"Well, let me check on her and if she's feeling better you can still read to her, okay?" he said.

"Okay," she said.

A little while later Beast Boy went to check on Raven. But, before he got to see her, he was taken aside by Cyborg and Nightwing. This never meant anything good and he prepared himself for the worst.

"So, how bad is it?" he asked.

"Her health's declined significantly since the last time we checked her," said Nightwing.

"Which means her ability to be away from the kids and be alright is weakenin," said Cyborg.

"How is she now?" asked Beast Boy.

"Pretty stable," said Nightwing. "We gave her Eric and the two are sleeping right now."

"Can I see her?" he asked.

"If you want to," said Cyborg. "She's your fiancé."

"Not at the moment," he said lowly and walked past them to enter the med bay. He looked around and saw Raven lying in one of the beds, Eric fast asleep on her chest, sucking on a pacifier. Her hand was resting on his little back and the two looked quite content. He sighed and walked over to her bed. He took a seat next to her and relaxed for a moment. He was so tired.

"You should go to bed," said Raven, causing him to jump. "I'll be fine."

"I didn't know you were awake," he said. "How do you feel?"

"Better now," she said. "I feel like an idiot for allowing myself to get to the point of fainting, though."

"Well, you're okay now and that's what matters," said Beast Boy. "Crystal said that you had a deal that she was going to read to you tonight. Think you're up for it?"

"If she is," said Raven. "Besides, I think Eric should be put into his own bed."

"Alright, I'll take him and send Crystal in," said Beast Boy, gently taking the sleeping babe off of Raven. "Think you can last being alone for a minute."

"I hope so," she said.

"I'll be right back," he said and quickly exited, without waking little Eric of course. He went to Ravens room and informed Crystal that if she wanted to read she had to go right now. The little girl quickly grabbed a book and headed for the med bay while her father went to put the baby boy down with his brother in their room.

Crystal was very quiet and cautious as she entered the med bay. She wasn't sure what she would find inside. Now that she knew that Raven was sick she felt like she had to be careful around her. She peaked inside and saw Raven sitting in a bed, waiting for her. She retracted for a moment and wondered if she really should go in.

"Since when are you shy?" Raven laughed softly.

She peaked around the door again and saw Raven looking right at her. She walked in more and slowly made her way to the bed. "I'm not shy," said Crystal. "I wasn't sure if you were okay, that's all."

"Don't worry, I'm alright now," she said with a small smile. "So, what story are you going to read to me?"

"Thumbelina," said Crystal, her mood beginning to lighten up a bit now. She made it to Ravens bed and gladly climbed right up and sat down in her lap. "We haven't read it in a while."

"Alright, begin when you're ready," said Raven.

Beast Boy soon returned and saw the two deeply absorbed in the book. He took a seat next to the bed once more and settled in to listen to Crystal read. He couldn't believe how much better she'd gotten already. She was reading very smoothly and only stumbled over a few words and never once asked for help. He looked to Raven to help her when she was having trouble, but she didn't. She simply waited patiently and allowed the little girl to figure it out on her own. Beast Boy knew that if it were him instead of Raven he would be helping her with every single word to make it easier for her. Raven was definitely a good teacher.

"…The End," read Crystal at last.

"Wow, that's a really good story," said Beast Boy. "I forgot how good fairytales could be."

"Leave it to you to actually be entertained by a children's story," said Raven, rolling her eyes. "Thank you very much for reading to me, Crystal." She kissed the little girl on the head and hugged her close.

"You're welcome," said Crystal with a smile and got comfortable leaning against Raven, since she was still sitting in her lap.

"Okay, bedtime," said Beast Boy, standing up.

"Do I have to go to bed?" asked Crystal.

"Of course you do," said Beast Boy. "You have school tomorrow."

"And I'm going to sleep, too," said Raven.

"Can't I stay here?" she asked, turning around and cuddling against Raven. "I wanna sleep with you tonight." She wrapped her arms around Raven and laid her head on her shoulder. It was clear that she was still shaken up about what'd happened and just wanted to be with Raven a while longer to make sure she really was alright and wasn't going to leave her.

"Rae, what do you think?" asked Beast Boy. He had learned that when it came to Crystal and Raven, Raven was in charge of making the decisions, not he.

"I don't mind her staying with me," she said, rubbing the little girl's back comfortingly. "I just wish there was more room in this bed. Why do they have to be so narrow? Actually, I wish I could just sleep in my own bed."

"I wish you could too, but we gotta monitor your heart for while," said Beast Boy. "But, I think I can help make the bed a bit bigger."

"How?" asked Raven.

"Just watch," he said with a smile. He went to the other side of her bed and took the railing down. He then went to the bed that was next to her and took down one of the railings as well and then pushed the bed next to Ravens. "There you go; one doublewide hospital bed."

"Now there's lots of room!" said Crystal with a smile and she rolled off of Raven and onto the other bed.

"That gap doesn't look all that comfortable," said Raven, looking between the beds and seeing the unpadded middle where they met.

"Not a problem," said Beast Boy. He grabbed a few pillows from the other two beds and then laid them down the middle where the gap was. "There, now you're all set."

"This is perfect," said Crystal happily.

"Why don't you go get your pajamas on?" suggested Raven.

"Okay, I'll be right back," she said and jumped off of the bed and right into her father's arms.

"Do you need anything while I'm up?" asked Beast Boy.

"I'd love some warm milk," said Raven, relaxing against her pillow. "I never had dinner and I think it'd hit the spot."

"You got it," he said with a smile and with that he and Crystal exited the med bay.

A few minutes later the two returned. Crystal was in her best nightgown with her favorite doll in hand and gladly climbed back into bed with Raven. Beast Boy had three warm milks, one was soy of course, and once Crystal was settled in dispensed them accordingly.

"Daddy, why don't you come sit here?" asked Crystal, patting the bed.

"Uh, I don't think I'm welcome," said Beast Boy with a sad chuckle.

"Why not?" asked Crystal, innocently. "Mommy-Raven doesn't mind, right?"

She looked to Raven, who looked to Beast Boy. Their eyes met and an odd feeling passed between them. Raven could see how much Beast Boy really did want to stay with them, but he knew she'd never let him. He believed her to still be mad at him.

At last she sighed and said, "No, I don't mind."

Surprised, he gave her an odd look. For a moment he believed he'd heard wrong but then he saw her giving him a small shadow of a smile. He smiled back and crawled in next to the two girls. The three gladly sipped their warm milks and then settled in for sleep. Well, Beast Boy planned on leaving once Crystal was asleep. But soon the exhaustion of the day caught up with him and before long all three were fast asleep.